How to get your roses ready for a beautiful summer

A little care given to roses now will keep them healthy and beautiful.

Remove winter protection

Begin by removing any mulch or soil put over plants as winter protection. Remove it in stages – rake away half, wait a few days, rake away some more, wait a few days, and take away the rest. Be ready to put it back if the weather takes a turn for the worse, and then begin the process again.

Prune

Next, get out some pruners and put on leather rose gloves. Prune out any diseased, damaged or dead canes. They will appear brown or black and may be shriveled. Cut dead and diseased canes all the way down to the base of the plant. Cut damaged canes, and those with tip dieback, back to an outward-facing bud in healthy tissue.

Crossing and weak branches (smaller than the diameter of a pencil) should be the next to go. With the worst offenders eliminated, it's time to look at the overall shape of the plant.

Whether or not to continue to prune depends on the type of rose. Shrub roses don't require any further action unless they need canes removed to maintain their shapes. These types of roses can also be pruned according to the one-third method. Remove one third of the oldest canes each spring. The rose is left with enough canes to produce bountiful blooms while producing new stems for the flowers of the future.

Hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas bloom best on the current season's growth. Pruning these roses severely – back to 18 to 24 inches – and leaving just three to five healthy evenly-spaced canes will ensure lots of new growth and masses of magnificent blooms.

Climbing roses need little additional pruning, however, they can be coaxed to produce more flowers if side shoots are cut back to 3 to 6 inches. As new shoots begin, train them to grow horizontally. If a climber has grown out of bounds, wait until it has finished blooming and then prune it to shape.

Fertilize

Roses are heavy feeders while they are actively growing and are hungry when they wake up in spring. Give them their first feeding with a granular rose fertilizer after they have been pruned. Sprinkle fertilizer around the rose, gently scratch it into the soil, and water thoroughly. Always follow the directions on the label when using fertilizers.

Growing roses is not as difficult as their reputation may imply. Given this care in early spring, they will reward their gardener with exquisite flowers in the garden or for the vase.

• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist and the garden center manager at The Planter's Palette, 28W571 Roosevelt Road, Winfield. Call (630) 293-1040, ext. 2, or visit planterspalette.com.

Pruning fundamentals

• Always use clean, sharp pruners.

• Make cuts at a 45-degree angle just above outward-facing buds.

• Be sure cuts are clean, not ragged.

• Remove diseased, damaged and dead canes first.

• Then prune out weak and crossing canes.